"As a journalist, I've reported on Donald Trump for more than 15 years," Sherman said in a statement. "I've long been fascinated by his origin story as a young builder coming up in the gritty world of 1970s and '80s New York. This formative period tells us so much about the man who today occupies the Oval Office."

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A Vanity Fair contributor, this is not the first time Sherman has taken on the unenviable task of telling the story of problematic and maligned men. His biography of Fox News founder Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice in the Room, is being turned into a limited series for Showtime.

Time will tell if the screenplay will glorify Trump's exploits and normalize his problematic past, much the way Wolf of Wall Street did with Jordan Belfort. What's for sure is that this is a biopic no one asked for.